We convene global development policymakers, thought leaders, and experts from around the world working on MDB reform. Learn more about our events below.
Upcoming Events
Multilateral development bank reform in a climate-changed world: A panel discussion with ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa
June 20, 2023 1:00 pm EST 6:00pm GMT +01The Covid-19 pandemic was a stark reminder that global challenges need globally coordinated solutions. Meanwhile, pressure to contain the increase in global temperatures has escalated. Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are – in principle – [...]
Past Events
Global Challenges Require Global Solutions: Transforming the MDB System
October 17, 2021 10:00 am Eastern TimePANELISTS Lawrence Summers, Chares W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University Donald Kaberuka, Chairman and Managing Partner, SouthBridge Minouche Shafik, Director, London School of Economics Masood Ahmed, President, Center for Global Development MODERATOR Clemence Landers, Policy Fellow, [...]
The Response of International and Regional Financial Institutions to COVID 19
April 6, 2022 12:00 am 2pm ESTThe COVID-19 crisis has brought the global economy to its knees, by its intensity, scale, and far-reaching impacts. Developing and emerging economies were most hit, as they suffer from structural constrains impeding their adjustment to the [...]
Sustainability and the New Energy Economy in a Multipolar World
May 11, 2022 9:00 amThe Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and King's College London have partnered to hold the online conference “Sustainability and the New Energy Economy in a Multipolar World” , on May 11 and 12, 2022, as part of the Project for Peaceful Competition.May [...]
Brazil, Biodiversity and Global Challenges
June 9, 2022 6:00 pmWith the Stockholm+50 and the Environment Week milestones, this event will explore the challenges and opportunities for Brazil presented by the international negotiations on biodiversity. This panel is part of the series of debates “Climate Change [...]
Green Hydrogen’s Contributions to the Energy Transition: Perspectives and Prerequisites
August 22, 2022 7:00 pmThe event, organized in partnership with the Australian Embassy in Brazil, will focus on the role of green hydrogen in the energy transition and carbon emission reduction for hard-to-abate sectors. Among the issues that will be addressed [...]
Multilateral Development Banks’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks: Options for Reform?
September 15, 2022 9:00 am Eastern TimeThis event is co-hosted with ODI. In 2021, G20 members created an independent panel to evaluate whether multilateral development bank (MDB) shareholder capital is being used efficiently and to understand whether MDBs can lend more without [...]
Multilateral Development Banks’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks: options for reform?
September 15, 2022 2:00 pm GMTAbout the discussion In 2021, G20 members created an independent panel to evaluate whether multilateral development bank (MDB) shareholder capital is being used efficiently and to understand whether MDBs can lend more without threatening their long-term [...]
Secretary Yellen to Deliver Remarks on International Development and Evolving the Multilateral Development Banks
October 6, 2022 4:00 pm Eastern TimeOpening Remarks Masood Ahmed, President Center for Global Development Speaker Janet L. Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury
Boosting MDBs’ Role and Capacity in Development Finance
October 11, 2022 1:30 pm Eastern TimeIn July, the G20 published the report it had commissioned from an independent panel of experts to assess MDB capital adequacy. The report's recommendations, if implemented, would support a major increase in collective MDB lending, likely [...]
Multilateral Development Banks for a Global Future: The Perspective of Emerging Market Leaders
October 12, 2022 11:30 am Eastern TimeWith increasing challenges that go beyond national borders, the World Bank and other MDBs must quickly transform themselves and become truly global banks – through broader mandates, better governance, and modern business models. Middle-income countries will [...]
Latin America and the Caribbean at a Crossroads: What Agenda and Role for the Inter-American Development Bank?
October 24, 2022 9:30 am Eastern TimeThis event was broadcasted in Spanish and English. COVID-19 and related economic shocks have had important but heterogeneous impact across the Latin American and Caribbean region, which also faces elevated climate risks, increasing rates of poverty, [...]
Trends and disruptors in multilateral finance: looking ahead with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
November 4, 2022 9:30 am GMTAbout the event Multilateral development banks (MDBs) have played a crucial role in supporting economic development and fighting poverty over the 70 years since the creation of the World Bank at the Bretton Woods conference. However, [...]
Future of Development Forum
November 14, 2022 8:30 amA half-day global virtual event to examine the pressing questions the development community must address in the coming decades. Climate change, conflict, food insecurity, and pandemics. These global challenges are growing in urgency and complexity—and they [...]
Promoting Climate-Resilient and Green Development in Africa
February 7, 2023 1:00 pmSub-Saharan Africa has contributed little to global greenhouse gas emissions, and yet it is the world’s most vulnerable region to climate change. Rising temperatures and sea levels, as well as rainfall anomalies, are increasing the frequency [...]
Priorities and challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean: a panel discussion with IDB President Ilan Goldfajn
March 1, 2023 6:00 pm GMTAbout the event Over the 70 years since the creation of the World Bank, multilateral development banks (MDBs) have played a crucial role in supporting economic development and fighting poverty. In 2022, the finances and policies [...]
A Conversation with IDB President Ilan Goldfajn
April 4, 2023 3:00 pm ETFEATURING Ilan Goldfajn, President, Inter-American Development Bank IN CONVERSATION WITH Amanda Glassman, Executive Vice President, CEO of CGD Europe, and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development Nancy Lee, Director, Sustainable Development Finance and Senior Policy Fellow, [...]
In Conversation: Ajay Banga and Afsaneh Beschloss on the Future of the World Bank
April 5, 2023 10:00 am ETFEATURING Ajay Banga, Candidate for President of the World Bank Group IN CONVERSATION WITH Afsaneh Beschloss, Founder and CEO, RockCreek, and Board Member, Center for Global Development This event was hosted in-person at CGD's DC office: 2055 [...]
Adapting Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to Global Challenges: Perspectives of African Leaders on Reform
April 10, 2023 11:00 am ETThis event was hosted in-person at CGD's DC office: 2055 L St NW, 5th floor, Washington, DC 20036 The shared challenges facing humanity, including climate change and pandemics have only grown more pressing and existential. Given [...]
The Other Global Challenge: Pandemic Risks and the World Bank Roadmap
April 12, 2023 10:30 am ETOPENING REMARKS Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister, Singapore and Co-Chair of the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response [recorded] FEATURING President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia [...]
Beyond the Dollars: Ensuring World Bank Evolution Means Evidence and Impact Revolution, Too
April 12, 2023 3:00 pm ETFEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKER Bård Vegar Solhjell, Director General, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) PANELISTS Bård Vegar Solhjell, Director General, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) Koldo Echebarria, former Director General, Esade Business and Law School; [...]
JETPs and the Role of Multilateral Development Banks in Shaping and Driving the Just Energy Transition
April 13, 2023 9:00 am ETFEATURED Alice Carr, Executive Director, Public Policy, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Deputy Minister Rachmat Kaimuddin, Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia Alexia Latortue, Assistant Secretary for International Trade and Development Jennifer Sara, [...]
Investing for a Sustainable Future in an Age of Disorder and Uncertainty: A Conversation with the European Investment Bank (EIB)
April 13, 2023 11:00 am ETFEATURING Werner Hoyer, President, European Investment Bank (EIB) Maria Shaw-Barragan, Director of Lending for Africa, Caribbean, Pacific, Asia and Latin America, EIB Global MODERATORS Masood Ahmed, President, Center for Global Development Mikaela Gavas, Managing Director, Europe [...]
What Do Middle Income Countries Want from the Multilateral Development Banks? Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Jin Liqun in Conversation with Masood Ahmed
April 14, 2023 11:00 am ETFEATURING Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, Republic of Indonesia Jin Liqun, President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) MODERATOR Masood Ahmed, President, Center for Global Development This event was [...]
Multilateral Development Banks in the 21st Century: what reforms for mandates, governance and financing?
May 18, 2023 6:30 pm BST, 1:30 pm EDTHosted by Department of International Development, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and ODI Multilateral development banks (MDBs) play a unique role among development financiers, with their convening power, cross-country knowledge and [...]
Symposium and evening event: Multilateral development banks in the 21st century
May 18, 2023 1:00 pm BST, 8:00am EDTMultilateral development banks (MDBs) play a unique role among development financiers, with their convening power, cross-country knowledge and expertise, and with finance at better terms than what capital markets can offer, leveraging on their balance sheets. [...]
Rebranding or reshaping the global financial architecture? MDBs reform, Bridgetown Initiative and the New Global Financial Pact
May 23, 2023 9:00 am EST/ 3:00pm CESTThe panel aims to initiate critical dialogue on the current proposals to transform the global financial architecture, focusing on three interlinked initiatives, the MDBs reform (exemplified by the World Bank Evolution Roadmap), the Bridgetown initiative (evolving proposal introduced by [...]